Ellie froze in fear at their approach. They had just killed someone. They would kill them without thought and simply because they were trespassing. The idea stuck in her mind. She was as terrified of them as she had been of Thane when they had first met. Her fear ruled her mind.
Ellie watched the men slowly approach her, wondering if they would really kill her, too. She and Thane were teenagers, barely adults. Surely, they did not just kill everyone who trespassed on their land. Thane did not have any doubts about the matter. He had heard stories about the men. Their family was legend among his kin. The men in front of them were fierce about their land and keeping ‘witchcraft’ in check.
The men got closer. They were zeroing in on their location. Their senses were leading them toward Ellie and Thane. Time was out. Thane grabbed Ellie’s hand again and pulled her to her feet.
“Run!” Thane said.
The men spotted them as they stood. Their eyes hardened, and they pointed their guns at Ellie and Thane. They started firing at them without bothering to ask who they were. Bullets tore through the leaves and trees around Ellie and Thane as they ran away as fast as they could. Caw chased after them with a fearful squawk, swooping low along the dead leaves of the forest to avoid the bullets. The men chased after them, their bullets trailing after Thane and Ellie with frightful closeness. One bullet tore through the fabric of Ellie’s dress, making her run faster and with more purpose.
“I got him!” a voice called out.
Ellie half turned at the call. The older man had his rifle focused on Thane’s back. His finger moved to the trigger. He was about to kill Thane. He would not miss.
Ellie raised her hand instinctively. She pulled in the necessary craft and gestured at the men. They flew back as a large explosion erupted in front of them. The bullets stopped throwing up dirt around Ellie and Thane. It took a moment for the men to find their feet again. By that time, Ellie and Thane had disappeared into the forest. The men swore after them, their curses chasing the pair as much as the bullets had.
Finally, Thane stopped running. The forest was quiet again. The men had given up on finding them. Ellie’s craft had scared them off. Ellie leaned against a tree for support as she tried to catch her breath. She kept her eyes trained on the landscape behind them, expecting the men to appear behind them at any minute.
“Did we lose them?” Ellie asked.
“I think so,” Thane panted.
“What was their problem?” she asked.
“They own the property around here. They think we’re a bunch of freaks and don’t appreciate when we bring our magic, or our feud, to their lands. They’ve had a long history against our kind – they think we’re evil because we do magic.”
Ellie looked behind her, scared of the men but also very curious about them. Thane’s words had challenged one of her long-held opinions on the world.
“You mean to say, they don’t do craft?” she asked.
Ellie had never met someone who could not craft. She found the idea to be unusual and somewhat sad. How did they manage? How did they do things without sneaking in a bit of craft here and there? She had read about such people, sure, but she had thought they were simply the same sort of literary creations as the monsters and the fairies. The idea that someone could actually exist without craft was as farfetched as the journey she was currently taking. A day ago, she would have never believed it.
“Most people don’t use magic,” Thane said.
“Most?” Ellie asked, wanting clarification.
‘Most’ did not provide the sort of scope she was looking for. Surely, he did not mean to say that craft was not as natural as she had long thought. One or two men in the world who did not craft sounded logical – there would always be aberrations to the natural order of things – but ‘most’ sounded like a lot more than just two people.
“Except for my family and yours, I’ve never met another who could do magic,” Thane admitted.
“How many people have you met?” Ellie asked skeptically.
“Lots and lots,” he said. “I’ve been in more cities than you have, remember?”
Ellie felt her world shift with the revelation. How was it that no one in her family had mentioned a whole world out there with people who could not craft? Was she the weird one in a world of people without craft? She had spent her whole life feeling as if she was the opposite of special. She was boring. Simple. Learning that her craft was unique was difficult to wrap her mind around when she had proof she was anything but unique.
“Weird,” was as all she could think to say.
“Yeah,” Thane agreed.
Thane grabbed Ellie on the arm, his face worried as he looked behind them. He was not eager to stand around and wait for trouble to find them while discussing the ins-and-outs of the non-magical world. Not when trouble was carrying a gun and looking for blood.
“We should probably keep moving,” he warned. “They know this area better than we do…We don’t need them catching up with us.”
“Right,” Ellie said.
Ellie definitely did not want them catching her. One near miss was enough. Thane pulled her away from her tree and they walked a fast pace toward town.
They walked parallel to the railroad tracks for a couple more hours, though they stuck to the edge of the woods. Their encounter with the men made them tense. It had them prepared to duck into the bushes at a second’s notice. Ellie wholeheartedly hoped the men had given up the chase. She hoped she had scared them. She was not eager to face another bullet. Caw stayed on Ellie’s shoulder as they walked. There was no more swooping away to search out bugs or stretch his wings in the wind. Danger lurked in even the most peaceful of settings. They had learned caution.
It was dusk when the train tracks branched off to reveal more tracks on the forest floor. The tracks merged in and out of each other in a design Ellie did not quite understand. They walked for another mile before the tracks gave way to buildings. The tracks continued their course around long rows of tall, industrial buildings. The forest ended abruptly at the buildings. Ellie and Thane stopped at the edge of the trees and looked out over the tracks, a sense of accomplishment surging through them at the sight. They had made it.
“Is that town?” Ellie asked in awe as she looked at the tall, shiny buildings.
“Of course not,” Thane said. “This is the shipping yard. Ships bring goods here then the trains and trucks take the goods inland.”
Ellie blushed at his condescending tone. She felt stupid and more out of place than ever. She felt silly to be so impressed with just a shipping yard.
“Oh,” she said, hoping he would not notice her blush.
Ellie looked around the shipping yard again in suppressed wonder. Despite the fact that it was not town, it was the largest set of buildings she had ever seen. The light from the setting sun reflected off the buildings, making them look as if they were glowing. It was as if they were saying ‘hello’ to her through the light. Ellie was dazzled by the sight. It made her more excited to see town. If the edge of town was so amazing, the center had to be beyond beautiful.
“Well, we’re out of the woods,” Thane said slowly, bringing Ellie back to the reality of their situation. “I guess this is the end of our truce.”
Ellie nodded. She was a bit sad to lose her guide, but there was no help for it. They had promised to set the feud aside in the forest, not beyond. He would not be convinced otherwise. Town was his home. He could not pretend they were not enemies there.
“Reckon so,” Ellie agreed.
Thane pointed straight ahead. A bridge was in the distance. It was long and made a slow curve toward a large collection of buildings.
“If you keep going that way you’ll see the downtown in no time at all. It’ll be on the other side of a bridge,” Thane said.
“Okay,” Ellie said. “Thanks.”
“Whatever you do, don’t mention your name to people. You’re not a Bumbalow today. You’re from out of town, passing throu
gh with your family. And make some shoes for yourself. People will stare if they see you walking around barefoot…and don’t do magic. The people that don’t do magic get scared when they see it, and my family will know you’re a Bumbalow and try to kill you. They’ll probably succeed, as they’re very good at what they do.”
Ellie looked at him curiously. From his tone, it sounded as if he actually cared what happened to her. She was certain it only seemed that way – a trick of her imagination or her willingness to hope in the goodness of people, even a Cooper. Neveah called it fool’s hope. Ellie knew her hope did not always have a place in the real world.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Ellie told him with a small smile.
“Right,” he agreed.
Thane rubbed at the back of his neck awkwardly, as if he had more to say and did not know how to say it. He settled for ‘goodbye.’ He gave a small wave.
“This was interesting, Bumbalow,” he said. “See ya.”
Thane walked away without another word, headed in the general direction he had pointed out to Ellie. His back was stiff and his body tense as he left her standing at the edge of the tracks. He did not look back. The truce they had forged was broken. They were strangers, enemies with conflicting purposes.
“Bye,” Ellie whispered.
Caw cawed once in parting, a low sound full of sadness. Thane did not seem to notice either goodbye. Ellie kept her place at the edge of the woods, giving Thane time to get away before she moved toward town. She did not want him to feel as if she was following him.
When he was gone, Ellie took a deep breath, absorbing the sights around her with a sense of satisfaction. She had really done it. She had made it to town. To have a Cooper be the reason she had made it just made the situation stranger. She shook her head at the weirdness and started to follow Thane’s path into town. She would deal with the realities of the weirdness when her adventure was over. That would be the time to take stock of the situation.
Ellie passed the industrial buildings she had mistaken for the town. They towered above her. She craned her neck to look up at them in awe. She wondered how they had managed to make them so beautiful and build them so tall. Looking at them, she was certain Thane had been lying when he said most people did not craft.
Smiling from ear to ear at the newness she found in front of her, the first row of buildings opened out to a large shipping yard. The yard revealed a large, unobstructed view of the harbor. For the first time, Ellie noticed the ocean.
The buildings had distracted her from the glittering waves in the distance. As the metal buildings passed by, she could no longer deny the significance of the sparkling water. It was in front of her, spread out like a quilt of liquid green. The dusk reflected in the moving water. She felt her mouth drop open, and her heart filled up with happiness at the sight.
She had read stories about the ocean, about pirates and seafarers who went on epic journeys on the high seas, rescuing damsels and getting into trouble because of their pride. She had imagined herself riding the waves on a ship and taking part in those adventures many times but she had never imagined the ocean could look the way it did. There was something magical about it. It went beyond any craft anyone could ever conceive of. It went beyond beauty. Ellie felt the magic of it stir in her chest.
Forgetting Thane’s warnings about blending in, she ran down to the shipping docks. Waves lapped against the edge of the wooden docks while huge barges waited impatiently to be unloaded further out at sea. People were milling around in a pattern of chaotic organization, unloading large shipping containers and moving the merchandise inland to waiting trucks and trains. The men were loud and called out often, filling the warm sounds of the ocean with the sounds of humanity. Ellie ignored them all, oblivious to their meaning, and focused on the perfection of the glittering water.
Seagulls and ducks flew around the harbor in an endless search for food. The light against the water was even more impressive than the light against the buildings. It reflected back in a thousand glittering waves. Ellie felt tied to the rhythm of the water as it surged in and out. She smiled and tentatively lowered a foot down to the trash-littered water, thinking she had never seen anything quite so beautiful.
“Hey! What are you doing?! This isn’t a playground!” a voice yelled out to Ellie.
Ellie turned and saw a burly man wearing a hardhat and carrying a clipboard striding over to her. His beard bristled with his agitation. She jumped when she saw him, remembering her encounter with the men with rifles. She had learned people near town were not always friendly to outsiders. She was a stranger here and not protected by the wards and familiarity of her kin’s craft.
Figuring he was about to kill her for trespassing, she ran off the dock and away from the ocean. She hurried past the industrial warehouses as quickly as she could go. Her feet flew across the ground in her haste. The man watched her run, a perplexed expression on his bearded face. He had never seen such a strange sight in his whole life: a young, barefoot girl with a crow on her shoulder running as if he were going to murder her. He shrugged away the weirdness at her departure and focused his attention on the dock again, shouting out orders to his crew in a boisterous voice.
Ellie was not aware of his return to work. She ran until she could not run anymore. When she finally bent over to catch her breath, she realized no one was chasing her. Not seeing anyone behind her did not help the feeling of fear in her chest. She considered her moment with the bearded man a close call. The ocean had distracted her from the danger of his presence. If he had not called out to her, she would have been caught and killed. Ellie equated the man with a life-and-death situation. Neveah’s words of suspicion, fear, and doubt for Ellie’s abilities were in her head.
While Ellie knew the general direction she was supposed to be going, thanks to Thane, she had never felt more lost. What was she doing here? Why was she searching for town when it was so dangerous? She kept running into dangers, instead of the new, fun things she thought she would see.
The beauty of ocean was something she never thought she would get to see. She had not realized she lived so close to the ocean. It came at a deadly price, however. She was not sure she was ready to face that price. And the danger only grew with the passing moments.
Ellie had made it to town, however. She had traveled two days, with a Cooper no less, and had faced down the deadliest of situations with him. She was afraid to turn back. Turning back meant giving up on her dreams. It meant Neveah was right. Ellie could not do that when she had fought so hard to make it so far. The thought gave her courage. It also made her realize that she simply needed to be more cautious. Thane’s warning rang through her head.
The only way to stay out of the danger was to blend in with it. She looked down at her feet and sighed. She figured her bare feet were her biggest problem. Everyone she had seen so far wore shoes. She hated shoes; she hated them more than chores. She sighed again and waved her hand. Heavy black boots that matched her black dress appeared on her feet. She wiggled her toes, uncomfortable with the way they were suddenly squished. One problem down, she looked at Caw in a question. She was not sure if having a pet bird was normal.
“Do you think they’ll notice you?” Ellie asked Caw.
Caw opened his beak slightly, but he did not make a noise. His uncertainty was apparent. Ellie pursed her lips thoughtfully at his response.
“Maybe we should hide you…just until my visit in town is done,” she told him. “Just to be safe.”
Caw cocked his head at her. His eyes were not happy at what she was suggesting. He had only recently been given life. He did not want to be tucked away where he could not fly.
“I promise it won’t be long,” Ellie assured him.
He cawed mournfully but seemed to accept her words as truth. Regretting she would not have a friend in town to keep her company and enjoy the new sights with her, she waved a reluctant hand. Caw immediately changed into a necklace. A heavy silver chain held a smaller, metal
version of a transformed Caw. Two dark diamonds were his eyes. They glittered with the intelligence of the live bird but the metal form of the raven remained motionless with the transformation.
Ellie put the necklace around her neck and carefully tucked it under her dress, to make sure nothing happened to him while she explored town. Feeling better prepared for her visit, though infinitely lonelier, she set her feet toward the bridge separating the town from the shipping docks.
It took Ellie the better part of an hour to get to the town. The bridge was massive, spanning the whole gap between the docks and the town. Ellie kept getting distracted by the color of the light on the water and the birds flying overhead as she walked. The birds made her want to release Caw from his jewelry prison so he could join their flight. The happy waves of the ocean made her want to jump off the bridge and enjoy the feeling of the dancing water. She had to keep reminding herself that both things would draw attention. It was dangerous.
A sign finally welcomed Ellie into town. Sidewalks led her toward a collection of shops and restaurants. The first thing she noticed was how fancy everything seemed. The sidewalks were full of gadgets she did not understand – things that spit out money if you put in the right code, for instance – and everyone seemed to have a car. The cars whizzed past her from one stoplight to the next. Ellie could not understand the purpose of the lights, but she enjoyed the changing colors.
The buildings were just as impressive as the ones at the docks, only they were not uniformly massive. There were short buildings, long buildings, tall buildings, and even round buildings. The variations in the structures provided a constant influx of wonder and excitement. Ellie’s head kept turning to take in the buildings. She did not want to miss a single thing. There was so much to take in.
Craft Page 8
